Muskegon High implementing trimesters

Muskegon High School has joined the trimester bandwagon, leaving just three local districts that haven't implemented the scheduling strategy that educators say will be needed to help many students graduate.

Beginning this fall, Muskegon students will have three trimesters a year rather than two semesters. That will provide students more opportunity to retake classes they fail and give them more time to master concepts they're struggling with, said Muskegon Public Schools Superintendent Colin Armstrong.

"We think trimestering will create greater success," Armstrong said.

Muskegon joins a long list of Muskegon County schools that have already implemented trimesters. Of the 12 school districts in the county, just Oakridge, Ravenna and Reeths-Puffer still operate on semesters.

Spring Lake has been on trimesters for several years, and Grand Haven will switch to them this fall.

Oakridge may eventually go to trimesters -- a concept that will be explored with new Oakridge High Principal Jason Kennedy, said Superintendent Tom Paniucki. The district wants to examine ways to help high school students meet the new graduation requirements, which include algebra II -- the requirement that most concerns area educators.

"We'll certainly be exploring a variety of options," Paniucki said.

But Ravenna is unlikely to consider trimesters, primarily because it would require the district to hire additional staff, said interim Superintendent Michael Matlosz.

"It would cost us more money at a time when we're trying to cut back," he said.

Reeths-Puffer administrators' hands are tied by the district's contract with the teacher's union. Superintendent Steve Cousins said the high school teaching staff examined the idea of switching to trimesters, but rejected it.

"I don't see it happening anytime soon," Cousins said.

But Cousins said he doesn't see trimesters as a panacea either.

"I think whether you have a trimester schedule or a semester schedule, it's how you're willing to manipulate that schedule to give kids what they want," he said, adding that students' success meeting graduation requirements has more to do with "what kind of instruction is going on in the classroom."

In Muskegon, trimester classes will be 72 minutes, compared to 55 minutes. High school students will take five classes each of the three terms, for a total of 15 a year. That compares with 12 -- six per term -- under the old semester schedule.

As a result, students will have more opportunities to retake classes they struggle in -- and sooner.

"If, at the end of the first trimester, you're failing, we can reload at the end of October and put you into some kind of a catch-up," Armstrong said.

The school also will be able to offer more classes, and eventually, it is hoped that high-achieving students would be able to accelerate their learning by compiling two trimesters worth of a subject into one, Armstrong said.

Conversely, students who are struggling in a subject could spread it over three trimesters, he said.

"There's more flexibility, there's greater choice," he said. "There are more opportunities for students to configure their learning."

School administrators have viewed trimesters as a way for students to meet the graduation requirements and still have room in their schedules for electives. The requirements, which took effect for last year's freshmen, include four credits each of math and English, one credit each of physical education and the arts and two credits of foreign language (starting with the class of 2016).

With the majority of the districts it serves switching to trimesters, the Muskegon Area Career Tech Center is too, beginning this fall, said CTC Assistant Principal Joseph Howes. High school juniors and seniors from throughout the county attend half days at the CTC.

The CTC had been issuing grades based on a six-week marking period that could easily be adapted to the 12-week trimesters or 18-week semesters, Howes said. It is using a computer software to generate grades on trimesters, which can be simply figured for semesters too, Howes said.

"We do our very best to accommodate all the needs of the local (districts)," Howes said.